California 2025, 2026 girls show vision, awareness

Players that show an advanced understanding of the game, who show the ability to anticipate, see a move or two ahead and read opponents are gaining favor with coaches and scouts in the current game. Here are six girls from California who show these traits.   Nathalia Guzman, Defensive Midfielder, San Diego Surf, Class of 2026   Guzman plays as a holding mid for San Diego Surf, and the rising junior attends Great Oak High in San Diego. She shows excellent vision on the pitch as she can connect penetrating passes that set her teammates up for dangerous chances, as she is a No. 6 with good range and likes to help push the ball forward. She also shows excellent decision making skills, because she knows when to slow things down as well as when to push, as she takes control of the game. Guzman has good technical skills and uses them to get out of tight spots and avoid pressure. She is also a very good field general, using her leadership qualities and communication to direct play. You will also see that she is improving her speed of play, her output continues to grow as she becomes more physical and she's getting even better at switching the field.   Reilly Harteis, Central Defender, Albion SC, Class of 2026   Harteis is a center back for Albion SC in San Diego, and is a rising junior at Mira Mesa High. Despite being new to Albion, she is a very important player, making positive contributions immediately, but she is continuing to build trust and build relationships with her new teammates. As a center back, Harteis shows very good awareness of the field, finding herself in the right spaces and anticipating the game well. She also has very good size, and plays with aggression and physicality. She has good foot skills, is technical and is good on the ball. She is also a very coachable player who communicates very well.   Payton Norman, Central Defender, FRAM, Class of 2026   Norman just helped her FRAM 2008 Girls Academy team qualify for the semifinals in Virginia in July as she leads a fierce, tenacious and resilient team from her center back position. A great teammate, she helps foster a culture of support, collaboration and camaraderie. In addition to being an excellent communicator on the back line, Norman also shows many other great strengths. She has a very good base of technical skills, showing an excellent first touch and an ability to play the ball on the floor and is comfortable with the ball at her feet. She has a good range of passing, is accurate and is calm under pressure. She also has the great speed you need out of a center back as she can cover ground, close out on attackers and tracks back quickly, responding to threats. She shuts down breakaways by being the first to a spot, or stepping up and disrupting when needed. Norman, a rising junior at Palos Verdes High, participated in the GA Southwest talent ID camp in 2023 and this year, showing that she is growing in all areas, including 1v1's, showing great improvement when an attacker is coming at her downhill. She is even showing more speed and foot skills.   Katie Shenbaum, Outside Defender, FRAM, Class of 2025   Shenbaum is an incredibly alert left back who is highly attentive when others might let their guard down. She is unafraid to play high, and react when a ball is played out wide. Once she gets on the end of the ball, she's decisive and fast. She plays combination footy well and makes great overlapping runs. Left-footed all the way, she sends excellent crosses into the area. She is a true threat going forward and can even lob long, dangerous balls into the area. Defensively she tracks back quickly, she's physical and stands attackers up well.   Holland Sperber, Forward, Davis Legacy, Class of 2026   Sperber fights for every ball, whether she is acting as a target striker, or she is pressuring defenders into mistakes. She is active, strong and physical. She is equally strong in bringing a ball down and laying it off or turning a defender and getting down hill. She is patient in her approach as she is smart with the ball, makes the right read whether playing the ball back or out wide, then she makes very clever diagonal runs and can hit the ball one time and put it on target when the ball is returned to her.   [player_tooltip player_id='112377' first='Kylie' last='Testi'], Forward, SoCal Blues, Class of 2026   Testi is extremely fast and plays at a very high level in terms of speed. She is a wide forward that can really move up and down the touch line. She is a very focused player who is switched on when the match starts, and she shows great ability in terms of her technical skills and her composure on the ball. With great vision and unselfishness, she is always looking to create and deliver the perfect ball for a teammate. An ever-improving player, Testi is excellent about tracking back and helping defensively when needed. She plays for SoCal Blues and is a rising junior at Murrieta Valley High.

Players that show an advanced understanding of the game, who show the ability to anticipate, see a move or two ahead and read opponents are gaining favor with coaches and scouts in the current game. Here are six girls from California who show these traits.